Any Horse Guys Out There ?

[alexc]

Haven't done much diy this new season ...  my 'work' time has been focussed on horse matters of late ...

I'm a complete novice, but I've been hosting young horses here at my country digs for a few years, so I'm a good stable hand and feeder and kind of the 'friendly daily human' for these youngsters  ...  like from the yearling stage to a couple of years old.

Anyway, one particular horse, a chestnut gelding of 4.5 yrs has kind of become a resident here    He's spent about half his time on this fair earth at my place, with a year or so away, training for racing.

He's more of a 'pace setting' horse than a 'contender' .. at 16hh or so tall, he's not as big  as the more powerful racers  ...  even though he runs like the clappers, jumping and bucking when he gets fired up ... 

..  so he needs an alternative job :  as a 'personal ride' or a 'minder' slash 'farm horse'

Lucky for him, we get on great ... and I have a lot of time! He likes grass and I have plenty of it. He keeps me company when I'm working in the orchard.

There is a strong local network of breeders in my area; he gets to have other horses for company for periods of the year. Sort of a 'barter' system of co-operation ...  which is how he came to be here.

I'm learning the basics of training from some vids from 'Buck Brannaman' who is sometimes called  the 'horse whisperer'  ;D and all round decent guy - he's quite well known in the US and works a lot with his training clinics.

...

Just wanting to keep this horse well used to human handling and such, so I've started working with him with the rope, halter+reins  etc. My aim is to keep him happy and healthy and able to interact with humans positively.

Fortunately for me, he is a real gentleman, behaviour wise - here in Tasmania,  Australia, horses are generally well treated and so he has had a good life so far  ...  he likes to work for his extra rations!  It really does seem to me, that he is training me - the 101 newby.

I call him 'Aedigus' which is a name from medieval england   He also answers to 'number 44'.

My hope is I can learn to ride him - he seems to want me to jump on, now that I have started regular training with him.

Over time, I'd like to get him  to pull a small sled around the paddock  ;D ..  like in the winter time when it's with sleet, mud and occasionally snow.

....

So, looks like my  diy electronics is paused for a bit ...  while I get myself a saddle, some riding lessons and some chaps .

Funny, what life sends you when you least expect it. I mean, I am retired, after all!

 

[Spiritworks]

He's a beautiful creature. Looks as if the both of you will benefit from the relationship.

 

[alexc]

Thanks!  Everyday is a journey and my horse amazes me at least a couple of times daily  ;D

Here's a pic of a yearling buddy ....

 

[pucho812]

I gre up around horses and cattle. As I kid I helped out on the family cattle ranch in south texas.  it was fun times. Being on horseback was part of it all.

 

[fazer]

Beautiful Horse Alex. 

My wife is a volunteer for Westeraires.  Its an organization that teaches kids how to ride and then puts on shows with the best precision riding teams.  My wife works with the adult hitch teams.  We are taking care of a draft horse that is getting old and loosing weight.  I help her in the mornings  keeping the other horses busy while she feeds the one.  They grab your heart and all have personality. 

I love your property.  It looks beautiful.  Made for horses

 

[bluebird]

What a beautiful post Alex, you should write. I felt I was there with the horse for a second.

Thanks!
Ian

 

[JohnRoberts]

I see horses and cattle every day in pastures next to the back roads where I ride my bike...

One day this week I even saw a red fox cross the road up ahead of me, but he didn't stick around to visit with me.

JR

[edit  IMO horses are smarter, or cattle are just dumb as stumps... multiple times while i was still jogging, cattle would move en masse from pasture to pasture as I jogged by on the road shoulder, apparently thinking I was herding them... Smart if I wanted them to move, dumb because I didn't.  [/edit]

 

[alexc]

Thanks guys for the interest   It's why I like to write here - the only online place I like to hang out  ..  these past 14 years  ;D

...

My horse is really teaching me about his world - he likes rules, schedules and routine. It's kind of like a dance that one does with a horse.  Knowing at what times of day he is receptive to training, what times he likes to get firey and when he just needs a quiet buddy is a big part of horse etiquette.

No mistaking, however, the power and passion of these incredible animals  ..  it is really humbling, for a human, to be in the presence of the beasties when they are fired up! 

I mean one needs to be very cautious and alert, because misreading a horse can be quite hazardous.  Injuries are pretty common!

But 'Aedigus' is really happy here, and it shows when he does his 'dramatic entrance' - running over the  fields with his high stepping canter, tail proudly aloft and bugling his defiance. He runs hard straight up to me, turning aside respectfully and halting just beyond my 'space'. Talk about power and grace! If he wanted to, he could toss me around like his feeder, his favourite object in the world.

However, with patience and care, plus a well behaved fellow, even a novice like me can achieve a real horsey connection. I feel like I'm gradually becoming one myself   The language is all 'body' - I'm slowly learning to read them and how to communicate back to them.  They do learn to understand 'tone of voice' and common commands, so I talk to them alot, in words, too.

I swear, I've taught most of them to run to me when I whistle! That, and apples. It takes a while for them to figure out what an apple is and how to eat them, but when it 'clicks' for them, it's priceless to behold. Then there are 'oats' ! Boy do they love those.

(I *am* careful with feeding them  so as not to overdo etc 'green grass is best', the saying goes).

...

Of course, it's all about caution first, trust second and then the mutual respect follows. Each day I re-inforce the previous day's work and I start to introduce the next thing.

Today I had him unconcerned to carry a blanket on his back while I walk him around on the rope.

It was a big step, considering when he first showed a special interest in me, about 8months ago, before the rigours of winter, he was easily stressed and a bit scared of close contact  - it's a big world out there for a young horse; trucking around the country to studs and ranches ... race training is hard on them - leaving them in superb physical condition ...  and they do learn discipline at the hands of the professional trainers.

Nothing too bad from the humans; it's the other horses that are the bullies! They can be quite tough in their dominance behaviour. And every horse has it's 'day' as the boss ...  rotating paddock 'mates' shifts things so that yesterdays' set-upon underling is tomorrow's top dog. And they do like to lord it around, especially when there are fillies about.  8)

Anyways - thanks for indulging my expressions on the majesty of horses!

 

[alexc]

Fazer, those are some wonderful drafts there! 

There is a strong history of draft horses, and clydesdales down here in 'hay and apple' country. I see them at the county fairs that happen here around easter of each year. Enormous and gentle, they are.

Around here, they all seem to be called 'Nugget' and they use them on apple farms to pull carts loaded with large wooden crates of apples. LOTS of apples - there's at least 10 different types common all over this area. Not to mention all the other stone fruits - cherries are the cash crop - and then there's the potatoes. Mega quantities of potatoes, again with many varieties I had never heard of but now grow myself!

The locals have a really long tradition of horses, this farming area being settled by the English in 1817  (I think - I'll recheck the sign next time I drive into the township!)

Capt Cook of the late 1770s was a major discoverer ;

'Captain Cook visited Adventure Bay on Bruny Island in 1777 on board the HMS Resolution. William Bligh was his sailing master.
'

*and*  French explorer  D’Encastreaux who did a lot of the discovery of the 'Channel' region, (which is just down the road) , early 1790s I think.

Horses were common here for transport, work, racing,  and historically ..  for war.   

It's hard to reconcile how horrible humans can be, taking such precious creatures into destruction ...  but that's the way it was. Young men and young horses sent into the mincer for no good reason ..... for us Australian and New Zealanders *and* Canadians  , 'Gallipoli'  in particular stands out as  an awful sacrifice all round ... ANZACs, British and Turkish bloodshed for what? Empire. 100 years ago.

At least nowadays, they are spared such horror; and around here, the traditions of 'bush' horsemanship are as strong as ever. Tough dudes, the local youngsters are! They, both boys and girls, handle broncos when in their teens  ;D

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Here's a pic of my front street ...  the mommas with their toddlers walk by each day, stopping to smell the roses and pet the horses.

They (the horsies that is) love all the attention from passerbys ...  when the ladies ride by on their mares, my boys go into hyper mode, running, proinking and vocalising like mad, to get attention ....  the mares and their ladies are always impeccably groomed, whilst my boys like to roll around in mud and muck all day long!

 

[alexc]

And here is a historical 'Apple Label' for my town, Cygnet in the area of 'the Huon Valley' far southern Tasmania.

Circa early 1900s I  think ...  they used to be on the sides of the apple crates and boxes shipped to the mainland markets.

Lots of swans around here - huge white  ones all over the place, but especially famous are the beautiful black swans of Cygnet.

I get a family of them each year in the fields next to the rivulet 'out back'    They usually have 5 or 6 little ones, known as 'cygnets', which are indeed a little  'plain' ..  compared to the grace of their parents. I like to watch for when they first start to take to the air, all ungainly and clumsy  ;D

 

[alexc]

And here is some info on them ...

Species:    atratus
Genus:    Cygnus
Family:    Anatidae
Order:    Anseriformes
Class:    Aves
Phylum:    Chordata
Kingdom:    Animalia

 

[alexc]

Here's number 65 again - he was very gentle with his fellow horses and now is the 'minder' down the road with a yearling or two with him ...

Very mischievous, especially with fences ......  (sigh)  had me chasing after him all winter long!

 

[PRR]

> run to me when I whistle! That, and apples.

Pavlov. Whistle=Apple/Oats. Like cats and can-openers.

> Today I had him unconcerned to carry a blanket on his back while I walk him around on the rope.

I'm not getting something. He has been a race-horse? Then surely he has been ridden? (Unless a pure sulky/cart race.) He knows how it goes. Concerns are that you are not a pro jockey, he has to know to stand while you clamber aboard and to not take-off at pace-setter speed. But you say he has seen the ladies and fillies walking nice on the road? So he knows what that looks like. I do fear what he really wants to do is get out there with the fillies and get frisky. 

Disclaimer: I've been on a horse just once, a Quaalude-doped dude horse, and it didn't go great. You probably want a horse-person to teach you how to tell the horse you want a nice ride, and hold him the first times.

Pulling a sled: you want a horse-collar, which means finding an experienced teamster to help you select and size an appropriate one, and help you ask the horse to wear it and pull a load. My experience with dogs is that some will pull anything and some will NOT pull a thing except in panic.

 

[pucho812]

o.k. so back when I was in high school, I had to take hunter safety courses in order to obtain a hunting license.
My instructor taught all kinds of gun safety and other.  One of the others was a recipe for making a corn mash used for hunting wild pig.  combine water, sugar,  deer corn, and yeast. Let it ferment.  Apparently wild hog/pig go crazy for it.  So I decided to make some, still do on occasion. Anyway I had a 5 gallon bucket fermenting in the barn one time.  I guess horses like the smell too because  I come into the barn and find my moms horse leaning up against the wall of the barn with it's legs crossed.  I also find an empty bucket.  Dam horse ate all my fermented mash. Probably got a hangover too.

 

[boji]

Lovely, pastoral stories. Thanks.

 

[alexc]

PRR - yep *he* knows what to do, I don't!  Literally I'm at stage 0 of horse handling  ;D

He is a thor_bred gelding, basic trained for about 1 year along with a bunch of other similar aged horses - they give them a few starts in district level races and then the better ones go on to further training etc. Breeders usually have a bunch of candidates each year to look after, so some get more attention, some less.

So yes,  this horse has been properly 'broken' into the saddle, trained on getting on-off trucks/floats and things like that. They are trained to respect the discipline of the rope, the whip and the will of the trainer

They learn to walk with humans, to respect the 'space' around the human, how to carry riders and especially the commands of the  jockey on the track etc.

They learn the routines of work,  extra rations, downtime  etc. Most importantly, they are taught how to *run*  8)

But I think the owners don't like to over-train them .. they are not 'dressage' material at this stage! 

I'm talking 2yrs to 4yrs old or so. The owners say to me things like 'you have to let them be horses', meaning left with small groups of their own age,  plus an older  'minder' in a safe place (like mine) while they learn how to survive away from their mothers/early carers. Making it thru winter each year, for example is plenty challenging for a young field horse.

The individuals develop their character traits at that time - they have complex rules for who is the 'leader de jour'  and the order of feeding dominance etc.

With several horses together, the group dynamics is completely different to just one.

Some have really competitive natures, some are more gentle, some don't thrive and some just want to be with humans all the time.

Race horses have to be really tough - they jostle each other, slam and corral each other into fences and generally it's a crazy frenzy of adrenalin, speed, the driving whip, maximum exersion competing to be the fastest  and all that!

It really takes it out of them - they are known to compete so hard they damage themselves ..  and jockeys are another story altogether. Danger is their business!

..

All that interspersed with lazy days in the sunny fields, snoozing happily in the most beautiful, glossy green grass you can imagine.

There's 10 different words for 'grass' down here  ...  for this purpose, and that purpose etc ...

...

But if the faith in further race training isn't there for the stakeholders, then they start to find other jobs suitable.

At that point , their investment value goes low, costs mount and without the workouts, they no longer are 'race ready' - they go soft pretty quick without proper training, both physically and mentally.

Just like people!

So after 8mths in the fields, even mine - (which the stakeholders like because they are very 'tame', not too large - meaning easy access for feeding etc)  - they revert to some degree to being  'free horses'  or basically just doing what they want. 

Which is fine by me - my objective isn't very demanding  - farm horse, occasional ride and basic handling to make basic life easy.

There's guys that do 'hoof work' available, and proper vets are no problem - but it helps to keep the horse in some kind of basic 'training' so they don't go fully 'bush' and become difficult to handle ..  in general and certainly by a newby like me!

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Seriously, it takes quite a bit of courage and foolhardiness to want to interact with these spirited, young, recent ex-racers.

If they don't like you, well, what's the point?  You can't push hard if they doan wanna.  Co-operation is a trust/like thing to a certain extent  ...  and an 'oats/apple' thing for sure.

But they do seem to form strong attachment to certain humans ... with their own kind, they get severe seperation disorders when the seasonal 'groupings' are changed . Takes a couple of days for them to 'reset' to a neutral state of mind. Horse psych has to be a very interesting thing to learn about.

That said, these horses are bred for centuries to want to be with humans, and to run and compete with each other ..  for their preferred human ... could be a trainer, owner or jockey. If they don't get regimented, positive interaction with the 'human of the day' they get unhappy.

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So that's it .... daily work is mostly about me learning to 'catch' and halter him, how to walk properly together and all that. Pro trainers can do it all on their terms for sure and this horse would surely fall into line. That takes a certain 'forcefulness'  and work.

I have no doubt that they prefer being a pampered pet but I have to make the effort to keep training for him. He's only young-ish.

Horses can live for 25+ yrs. Indeed lots of the fields around here just have 'field' horses or 'rescue' horses ...  a piece of land, needing a couple of  grass munchers ...  where they can just exist peacefully without much handling to the end of their days.

One elderly mare down the road, a beautiful now-white andalusian, has been here almost as long as I have. She still looks happy enough on a sunny day with her couple of companions.

.....

Plus there's literally oceans of stuff to train on before ever getting in a saddle.

Like I say, these horses are powerful creatures - for me, it's all 'slowly' and 'steadily' doing everything so as not to get damaged.

It's more about giving this fine horse a home and some purpose whilst he munches down the endless grass.

 

[alexc]

Hey pucho - great story! I love to brew myself. 

And boy does this horse eat - like all the time, forever.  Plenty of grass for sure, but I ration a certain amount of hay, and a small amount of oats and a small apple a day.

I keep to a schedule but have smaller oat treats after a bit of training.  I really do have to get some equipment, like a proper halter set and such. Then I can get a bit further on with it all. That and watch a bunch more instructional videos.

..

I'm on the lookout for a second hand set of 'harness'  leathers    ..  they do crop up occasionally on the local online-marketplace.

It'll be years before I get to that 'sled pulling' stage,  no doubt. I suppose it depends on the temperement of the horse  ... they might not mind too much once they're out of their 'teens'.

There are youtube instructional vids ...  with real youngsters, a horse and a sled no probs!

 

[PRR]

I think you need Riding Lessons.

From this distance, it is not so tough. The horse knows the ropes. Throw a saddle on, get aboard, cluck or knee until he moves.

Of course this could go VERY wrong due to your lack of experience and his not knowing how ignorant and vulnerable you are.

Also: I gather the horse belongs to others? If you ride him into a drop-bear hole and break his leg, they will be unhappy. You want a Riding Lessons paper, then you ask if you may ride their horse, walk and trot, for short periods to keep him limber.

My area has several stables and some have rides and lessons. We even have a Therapeutic Stable where they put handicapped children on horses (if they can ride, you can too!), though I suspect an Equestrian Centre will have a boarding platform and starter horses on hand. Problem is that this is a Rich Folk hobby and I guess that's not you? Horse people love sincere horse lovers. You can get-across that you are not into Dressage, or barrel-race, or fancy duds, you just want to be with the horse. The usual "discount" is you shovel manure for an hour before your lesson. If you already do that for your horses, maybe you can polish harness or maybe they let you slide half-price. (A friend went through this but I was not there.)

 

[alexc]

The map is right - I'm looking at a riding school nearby!  Somewhat more south than the shown locality. I'm on the coastal inlet of the  D’Encastreaux  Channel about 4kms in from the shore.

The Channel is some ruggedly beautiful country with the large Bruny Island in between us and the great Southern Oceans .....  There used to be whaling fleets 'two towns over'  in the older days when that sort of things was allowed. 

Beyond that, next southern stop is Antartica.

Lot's of really interesting wildlife - my area is also known for it's fairly rare 'sea horses' that live in the estuary system, where the water is almost black from forest tanin (naturally) in the mighty Huon River.

There is a timber, down here, nowadays rare and expensive, called 'Huon Pine'. A majestic tree, stands of which only survive by being carefully watched at secret places ...  it was once all over and prized for everything, especially boat building and fine furniture. 

Nowadays, reclaimed huon pine timber is used for executive board rooms and such where the going price is in the 10s of thousands of dollars.  There is a modern genetic breeding program and seeds are now easily available, but the huon pine takes about 1000 years to gain full maturity, so patience is required!

...

My riding goals are nothing too adventurous, just enough to control safely and plod along for some fun.  My horse is pretty respectful and will only settle down more as he matures, especially if he is happy with his handling and surroundings.

Lessons will be on the schools' horses - it's a pain to move horses around unless you have to. When my confidence builds, the school puts you on more assertive ones as you like.

When I'm ready, I will ask the owners' son to help thru the first few rides on my horse. After that, it should be fine.

There's no rocks or holes or debris on my fields - I've gone over every square inch now, cleaning it up and it's all nice, soft, rich soils with thick gras  ....  except the 'horse affected' areas - they like to make trails and dust patches and so on! Heavy duty wear and tear for sure. 

One gets the fields 'ripped up' and re-sown every couple of years to rectify soil compaction and restore the 'horse friendly' grass varieties.

Only the boundaries have trees - this particular farmlet historically was part of a larger apple orchard and originally had a milking shed and horse-training area  as well.  I turned that into a greenhouse and orchard!

...

Not so much issue with liabilities per se on the horse though - his investment value has well dropped, into the region of a 'farm horse' which is quite low. In USD it would make one weep! He is so strong and healthy it's hard to fathom, but that is how the economics are here.

When ongoing costs are factored in, well  ..  his owners are more or less  happy to give him away to someone they believe will look after him and give him some interest and affection in his daily days.  They have other horses to occupy their racing attentions, and others still more, mares-with-foal.

I put some value in their kitty up front as a token of good will and the registration gets changed to myself - with the regulating authorities (thoroughbreds have to be raised in accordance with state law and registered with the industry race organisation).

.... and we have an ongoing mutually beneficial co-operation arrangement now for 5years and something like 25 horses have passed thru for varying periods, so far. I used to have up to 5 horses at a time back then, including the owner's original 'minder' - huge guy ..  like really big ..  but super gentle. He would crunch a whole apple in one bite.

My guy has been here 3 times now, the current period being for 8mths, so he is now the senior fellow and the dominant 'minder'

With me and friend 'Aedigus'  looking after the next yearlings,  the cycle goes on. 

There's a lot of support available ,  if I need horse advice and pro care.

....

My own physical integrity is more of an issue, I don't think regular insurance would cover me at this age for this activity  I'm reasonably fit now, I do gardening and maintain the fields and fences which keeps the body strong.

Gardening is hard work for sure! I don't use machines, except for a lawn mower ... which I have used over the whole place, many times. (this place had a lot of weeds when I started cleaning it up many years ago.) I don't spray chemicals in quantity at all, I just dig out the weeds!

The riding school has liability papers that need signing, however. But that's life and to be expected.

I am an optimist tho', and reasonably realistic - I used to ride a lot of large motorcycles for a long time, so I have a healthy dollop of foolhardiness too.

Admittedly, it's been bicycles only for the last 20yrs, and bruises and scrapes heal up a lot more slowly than back then.

...

It's only the DIY builds that are not getting much attention at present, but that will roar back to life once I finish 'tweaking' my little 6V6 dexluxe style head.

Finding the differences in sound of simple Fender vs Marshall style tone circuits is taking a while 

 

[alexc]

PRR - you're absolutely right about the 'work in kind' trades for schooling, or advice and feed too! 

I started out with the owners' exactly that way ..  working up from being a just a guy with fields 'watching with a phone', to clearing up after them, and thence to looking after feeding, watering and then handling  -  with the owners mostly elsewhere most of the time. 

( the owners' have 'rounds' they do daily,  to feed and check their horses at different places around here, and take any actions that might be required )

The owners' are happy to for their horses have lots of human contact - being well socialised in general is a good characteristic for them. I like to think I've helped the horses in that respect.

About the only skill *not* required around here, is that of elec eng  ;D 

Well, there are electric fences, I guess.  Actually, a good demand for solar installations ..  complete with battery systems and co-generation facilities etc.

....

The main costs going foward are vet fees as required.

Feed is quite low cost now, he doesn't need  specialised young racing horse feed anymore.  He's more or less full sized now; the challenge is not to overfeed.

Just good grass and hay (which I have), a 20kg bag of oats each month and some 'horse-apple'  treats is fine.  (small, tart apples).

And hoof-work twice a year ....  no shoe-ing needed, he doesn't walk on asphalt roads much, for example.

I think it would be about the equivalent of 500usd a year.

Vets get very expensive, very very quickly, however. There are certain realities any animal owner  must be prepared to face in the worst case.It's one reason I don't have livestock, like sheep  - it can all get quite grizzly when things go wrong, health wise.

And I'm no different; hopefully we both have a bunch of good years left in the future.

...

Low cost is good, because I certainly am not a 'player' in this game - as PPR says, it's definately a 'well off' person's pursuit! 

I don't gamble at all, but I love horse racing all round. I used to work in a 'betting shop' when I was at high school;  taking/paying the bets thru the machines (which were very hi tech in their day), putting up the results and cleaning up the mess.

But I haven't had a paying job for 10years now!  I switched a small house in the city to a small 4acre farmlet way back and got off the fast-lane. Health reasons mostly. And spiritual reasons too. A lot of that. And the traffic. Always with the traffic. Day in, day out.

But nowadays, I do get by easily enough because I have a simple, low cost life.  My biggest expense is health insurance, but again, it's a lot less than in the US. My car is a 1980 model, for example.

That and the fact my 'music' and 'diy audio' investments were paid off years ago.

Guitars and diy audio has cost me more than this horse ever will! I mean, a good Martin D28 costs about 5 to 10 x  my horsie friend. I know, I have both!

(our aud is about right vs the usd right now  ... it swings from 0.5 to 1.0 with a long term of around 0.7 or so)
...

The riding school will be fairly affordable ..  less than a good bottle of scotch for a couple of hours  8)

The economics of things in rural areas is fairly doable, compared to big city living where I lived prior in Sydney.

Even the requisite gear is available on 'Gumtree', our australian local version of 'ebay' - which works great for things like saddles and bridles and what not. A used, decent 'stock mans'  saddle can be had for just a few hundreds.

Most common is all the dressage stuff for girls and women ...  there's a lot that going on all over the place, jumping and parade grounds a common sight.

Currently,  I use a couple of broom brushes, an old towel, a little cotton rope and a light bamboo switch for training  ;D  That and a lot of gloves! (they like to chew )

So I have some upgrading to do!